Hiding Behind the Mask
by The-Lost-Ninjas
Summary: Sasuke and Naruto find themselves alone after a mysterious attack leaves Sasuke injured...can the two of them solve their differences? YAOI SasuNaru, One shot fic by Eimaj.


Summary: Sasuke and Naruto find themselves alone together in a cave after a mysterious attack leaves Sasuke injured...can the two of them work out their differences?  
  
Warnings: YAOI SasuNaru (gyah I love them so much!)  
  
A/N: Ahh, just a random sweet 'lil one shot fic written by me, Eimaj....at one in the morning...don't ask, I couldn't sleep Also....since it was written when I wasn't fully awake there could be some inadvertant gramatical errors and such in here that I'm too lazy to look for right now...whatever, happy reading! And beware the sap!  
  
Sasuke winced as he lowered himself onto the cold hard stone floor, then immediately put his face back into it's normal mask of uncaring. If he had been alone perhaps he could have openly showed his pain...  
There was a thump and scraping of feet and a familiar figure with an even more familiar mop of blonde hair entered the cave, trying to balance an armful of firewood. Dripping with water, he shuffled out of the driving rain outside and dumped the wood haphazardly on the stone floor.  
  
...Sasuke was definitely not alone, that dobe was here too...  
  
Naruto sighed and flopped down beside the wood, rubbing at his forehead with the back of his hand. "Geeze it's pouring out there." He commented, trying to catch his breath. "It's like a freaking hurricane or something." He only rested for a moment, however, before pulling himself back up to kneel beside the wood and arrange it for a fire.  
If Sasuke had not been so out of chakura he would have lit the fire for him with one of his techniques, but as it was he could only watch as Naruto tried his hardest to light the fire with nothing more than a small box of matches from his pack, although he didn't appear to be having much luck.   
The blonde boy's face was set into a look of pure concentration as he tried to lite the damp wood. The rain water dripped from his hair, no longer up in it's normal spiky appearance, but sagging down around his ears...it was actually longer than it looked. His sky blue eyes were squinting in concentration...even if he did still have that rediculous orange jumper on, he looked a lot more mature like that than he normally did.  
Sasuke didn't bother to stop himself from thinking about the dobe...he'd given that up long ago. There had once been a time when thoughts like that would have sent him spiraling into thoughts of 'what the hell is wrong with me?', and he would have tried his best to deny to himself what was going on in his own mind.  
But he no longer needed to deny anything...he knew what was wrong with him, and he had finally started to accept it. Naruto was more to him than just a rival...or even a friend for that matter.  
  
He was in love with the Dobe.  
  
But he'd never tell him that...oh no that would just result in too much pain to mention, so, in true Sasuke fashion, he covered that emotion up along with all the others and kept it safe inside of him where no one else could see, and thus could keep up his stone cold mask of indifference when he looked at the boy...even if that wasn't what he felt like inside.  
"Damn it, why won't this stupid thing just light already!?!" Naruto's frustrated cry broke through his thoughts and Sasuke realized he was staring at his face. Luckily the dobe had been completely focused on the fire and hadn't noticed.  
Sasuke sighed...the dobe really was helpless...and tried to move to stand up and go help him. Unfortunately the pain in his side stopped him before he'd even managed to push himself away from the wall entirely. With a gasp, he fell back against the stone, holding onto his wound.  
  
"I thought I told you to stay there." Naruto scolded him, abandoning the fire and rushing to his side, making sure Sasuke was comfortable again. "I'll look at your wound when I get this dumb fire started so don't. Move." He told Sasuke sternly. The dark haired boy bit his lip but nodded. He really was too weak to fight with him here.  
The wood's too wet..." He commented as Naruto tried again.  
  
"It's all I could find!" Naruto shot back, almost sounding desperate, which shut Sasuke up immediately. What was he so worried about? Sasuke was the one freezing to death here. "Come on you stupid fire, light already!" Naruto yelled at the uncooperative sticks of wood.  
  
Suddenly the piece of wood he was holding burst into flames, nearly scaring the boy out of his wits, and he dropped the thing in the middle of the fire. Somehow, the one burning piece of wood lit the rest, and soon there was a cheery blaze lighting up the darkness of the cave.  
  
Sasuke was slightly surprised...but then again strange things seemed to happen when the dobe was around, so it wasn't all that surprising. It was kind of like he had some kind of hidden power even he couldn't control sometimes...  
Naruto breathed a sigh of relief and struggled out of his wet outer jacket, tossing the bright orange piece of clothing beside the fire to dry, and moved back over to Sasuke.  
  
Sasuke didn't say anything as Naruto reached behind him for the little fanny pack attached to his belt, and plunked it beside his comrad. Reaching inside, he pulled out a kunai and a small roll of bandage linen.  
  
"Let me see it..." He told Sasuke, who had to work hard to keep his face stone still as he lifted his arm to allow Naruto to look at his wound.  
  
He heard Naruto's sharp intake of breath as he saw it but still refused to say anything. He knew it probably looked pretty bad...that guy who had attacked them had sliced him right across the side with a small knife...and he had kept fighting even though the blood was soaking into his clothes along with the rain. Their party had been split up, Kakashi and Sakura going one way and Naruto and Sasuke the other...  
  
Not that Sasuke really cared, but he hoped that the other two had gotten away ok, and that the guy who had attacked them had either given up, or got what he wanted and left. Naruto was probably worried as well, although he hid it by remaining busy...the guy was as easy to read as an open book sometimes...  
"Your going to have to take those off." Naruto's voice reached his ears and this time Sasuke did blush, having been caught off guard. He stared incredulously down at the blonde.   
  
"What?" He demanded, and for a second his mind foolishly hoped that Naruto wanted his clothes off for the reason he thought he did.  
  
"Don't you listen?" Naruto shot back, irritated. "Your clothes are soaked, and I can't get to the wound with those shorts of yours on...or do you want to bleed to death?"  
  
Sasuke hid his dissapointment well...although he still felt it. Of course that would be the only reason Naruto would want to see Sasuke in a state of undress...and even then he would probably disturb the other boy to no end. He'd already decided that this was going to be a one sided love, why did he have to keep torturing himself with false hopes like that?  
  
Shooting Naruto a look, Sasuke proceeded to wriggle out of his clothes as best as he could...although Naruto had to help him with the shirt, it hurt too much to move his arms around like that. At last, Sasuke lay before Naruto, feeling utterly exposed in the presence of the object of his affections...it was too much, and the slight blush on his cheeks increased ever so slightly...his mask was slipping, although so subtly that he hardly noticed it.  
  
He refused to meet Naruto's eyes as the other boy proceeded to clean Sasuke's wound, and wrap the bandage around him, stopping the bleeding, for the most part.  
  
Naruto was unusually quiet as he worked...Sasuke would have expected him to be insessantly complaining about why this was such a pain and that Sasuke sucked to have been caught off guard like that.  
  
"....Sasuke...?" Naruto asked in a small voice as he tied the end of Sasuke's bandage in a small bow, his head still bowed so all Sasuke could see was the top of that mop of sunflower hair.  
  
"Hn." Was Sasuke's reply...hey he wasn't a talkative guy, what did you expect? He was probably going to ask some dumb question about how the others were doing that Sasuke couldn't answer.  
  
"Do...do you think the others are alright?" Naruto asked, looking up at him. Sasuke suppressed a smirk. See? Open book.  
"How should I know?" Sasuke answered in his predictable anti-social way, although it might have come out a little harsher than he'd intended.  
  
Naruto's eyes softened and he looked down. "I don't know...I'm sorry." He answered. Sasuke was surprised for the second time that night. Naruto wasn't even going to argue over it? Point at him and call him a bastard? And...had he heard right or had Naruto actually apologized to him?  
Sasuke blushed a little more and turned his head away again. "Don't worry, Sakura will be fine, she has Kakashi-sensei with her." He told the other boy, guessing at the real source of his worry. Naruto adored the little pink haired girl...she took all of his attention without even wanting it...  
  
Sasuke was actually jealous of Sakura...the mask slipped a little more...  
  
Naruto didn't say anything for a long time, which surprised Sasuke once more...the dobe was acting very strangely all of a sudden...  
  
"Yeah...." Naruto answered at last, and got up to poke at the fire, a thoughtful look on his face. Suddenly he put the stick down and turned to Sasuke. "Domo...Sasuke..." He stuttered, his cheeks flushing a slight pink. "Why....why do you hate me so much?"  
  
Sasuke was taken aback, and all he could do was stare at him in disbelief for a moment. Why THAT question all of a sudden? How was he supposed to answer it? He most definitely did not hate Naruto, but how was he to tell him without letting on that he....really really didn't hate him?  
  
"When did I say I hated you?" He answered. Yes...that would do...deny that he'd ever said such a thing...he was known as a bit of a perfectionist, he was not one to accept blame for something he'd never said.  
  
"Once...that day on the bridge..." Naruto answered, his voice quivering slightly. "And....and you never seem like you like me very much..."  
  
He'd said that on the bridge...? Sasuke tried to remember...he'd been a bit too preoccupied with dying at the time to really take notes on what he'd been saying...  
  
'I.....hated you...' Sasuke's mind recalled the day...staring up at the blonde who held him as he tried to hold onto his last breath, not wanting to let go of life. He could remember what he'd been thinking...he still had to defeat Itachi...bring his clan back...  
  
And, even though he hadn't understood it at the time, he didn't want to leave Naruto. The boy had looked so scared staring down at him...he still didn't know how they'd gotten out of that situation, he had a feeling it had something to do with Naruto, but when he'd asked Sakura, she said she didn't know. Naruto had somehow broken the ice mirrors, that much was certain, and when he'd come out, he'd seemed remarkably uninjured, but other than that nobody knew...except for Naruto that was...  
  
"...Never mind..." Naruto muttered and stood up, walking across to the back of the cave. Sasuke hadn't realized he'd gotten lost in his thoughts, and hadn't answered Naruto's question...he must have thought he was ignoring him or something.  
  
The mask slipped...he didn't want Naruto to think that.  
  
"Geeze, I don't hate you, ok?" He told the dobe and looked away, hoping that Naruto would not be able to see the blush on his cheeks in the dim light.   
  
Naruto turned to look at him, blue eyes wide and shining...was he about to cry? And what was that hidden just beneath the surface...? "Really?" He asked, then shook his head. "Th-then how come you call me dobe and dead last and..."  
  
"How come you call me bastard?" Sasuke countered and Naruto's mouth clamped shut mid-sentence. A long uncomfortable silence settled around them...Sasuke felt it might suffocate him soon if he had to sit like this too long, trying not to look Naruto in the eye.  
  
"I don't know..." Naruto suddenly answered, looking at the floor. "I...I get angry and it out." That uncomfortable silence hovered again. Sasuke couldn't take it, it was too quiet...since when had he been the type to prefer conversation over someone's voice? His mask, he realized, was almost gone...and he was too far away to catch it in time.  
  
"Dobe..." He whispered, his eyes slipping to stare down at the rough cave floor. "....You shouldn't ask me those questions..." He heard his voice...emotion had seeped into it, but he didn't bother to try and cover it up.  
  
Naruto moved back to kneel down in front of him, his eyes confused and earnest. "Why not?" He asked. Curiosity, it was said, killed the cat...  
  
But somehow Sasuke knew...Naruto was not a cat, he was more like a fox...He felt the mask fall away completely, leaving him more exposed than his bare skin had left him...  
  
"Because you won't like the answers..." Sasuke answered with sadness in his voice. If he told him...he would probably lose Naruto forever...but he knew he couldnt stop himself if Naruto asked...part of him prayed that he wouldn't...the other part prayed that he would.  
  
The latter won.  
  
"Try me..." Naruto's voice was so much softer than normal...  
  
"You know...what they say about boys bugging girls in the playground?" Sasuke asked quietly, not raising his eyes to meet Naruto's. He couldn't look at him...he needed to stop himself but he couldn't.  
  
"What...that they only tease them 'cause they like them?" Naruto asked, blinking in confusion.  
  
Sasuke nodded. "I'm....kind of like those playground boys..."  
  
Naruto stared for a moment. "But...you don't call Sakura-chan names..." He muttered, as if trying to prolong the inevitable.  
  
Sasuke swallowed, closing his eyes. "I don't love her..."  
  
He kept his eyes closed as he let Naruto digest this. He was dense, but surely he could not be that stupid to miss the meaning behind that...There it was, his feelings held out to Naruto...his heart on his sleeve, ready for the blonde to either take it and rip it in half or...  
  
Or...there was no or...Naruto could never accept him like that...  
  
He stayed like that for a long time, as the silence descended again. Naruto wasn't so much as moving...his breathing he could hear...did he get it, or didn't he? Sasuke risked opening his eyes and raising them to look at Naruto.  
  
And was surprised to find the blonde boy staring at him, tears flowing openly from his wide blue eyes. As his dark orbs met with those ones of deepest blue, Naruto made a squeaking sobbing noise, and before Sasuke even knew what was happening, the blonde's arms were around him, his head buried in his chest.  
  
"Dobe what...?" Sasuke said in surprise as his rival...and the object of his everlasting affections glomped on to him and sobbed into his chest.  
  
"I...had no idea you...when...why didn't you just tell me?" Naruto was muttering through his sobs, not making a whole lot of sense. Sasuke could feel his face heat up as he lay there with Naruto clinging to him, uncertain of what to do. His arms hovered around Naruto but did not hold him back for fear of being pushed away still.  
  
"You don't make sense, Naruto..." Sasuke complained, and Naruto pulled away, staring at him, wiping at his tears with the back of his hand, a small smile on his face...and Sasuke thought he recognized that look in his eyes...  
  
"Th-that you liked me....why couldn't you say so?" He sniffled. "D-do you even know how long I've been waiting to hear that?" The tears welled up once more and he wiped at them again, cursing his weakness under his breath.   
  
Sasuke stared at him. Was he really saying what he thought he was...? "Naruto do you..." He stuttered, still not completely sure, but hope was rising in him like he'd never felt before. He just hoped it wouldn't be crushed....  
  
"Y-you bastard..." Naruto laughed a little through his tight throat. "It's j-just like you to hide it so well...I'm not that good...I thought you would have figured it out a million times..."   
  
Sasuke's hopes were not dashed by that...if anything they rose even higher, up in the sky challenging even the stormclouds. As Naruto leaned forwards, careful not to harm his wounds, and paused slightly, their noses just touching...he couldn't help but smile. A real human smile he knew he hadn't shown for a long long time.  
  
Too long. He'd been alone in the dark for too long...and so had Naruto.  
  
The aformentioned dobe smiled back, and closed the distance between them in a heartbeat, pressing his lips against Sasuke's...for the second time in their lives.  
  
This kiss, however, was nothing like the first...that one in the classroom had been unwanted...and he hadn't known how he'd felt back then. This one was given freely...and accepted freely, and could be enjoyed. Sasuke reached a hand up to touch Naruto's whiskered cheek as they kissed, memorizing the feel of those strange marks...something he'd always wanted to do but never had been able to.  
  
As Naruto pulled away and smiled into Sasuke's eyes, Sasuke knew that no more words were needed...that had said everything, for both of them. His mask lay forgotten on the floor of his past.  
  
He didn't need it anymore.  
  
"Sasuke-kuuuuuuun!!!" A familiar voice woke Sasuke...they were calling his name...what the heck did Sakura want this time?  
  
He opened his eyes and blinked. The cave was still kind of dark...the fire had long since burned out, and outside the storm had apparantly ended, sunlight shone through the small opening, barely touching him as he lay there...  
  
With Naruto sleeping in his arms. Neither one had moved all night...just held each other until...whatever hour it was, Sasuke didn't know, until they had fallen asleep together. He smiled a little at the other boy, draped across him like an adorable rag doll, messy blonde hair sticking up in odd angles, having not dried properly during the night.  
  
"Sasuuuuuuke-kuuuun, Naruuuuto!!!" The voice called again, and Sasuke haved a sigh. Reaching up the arm from his uninjured side, he shook Naruto's shoulder.  
  
"Oy, dobe..." He whispered when Naruto stirred, and opened his clear blue eyes just a crack. Naruto blinked at him sleepily, and Sasuke hoped that he would still feel the same in the morning as he had at night. "We have to get up..." Sasuke told him.  
  
"Nnnn...but your comfy Sasuke-chan..." Naruto mumbled, laying his head back on his chest. Sasuke smiled. Apparantly, he shouldn't have worried.  
  
"Sasuuuuke-kuuuun!!!!!" The voice cried a third time, closer this time, and was accompanied by "Kakashi-sensei, can't you call them too?!"  
  
Naruto lifted his head and rubbed at his eyes. "Sakura-chan...?" He mumbled still half asleep.  
  
"Help me up..." Sasuke winced as he tried to move. Naruto was awake in an instant and was helping Sasuke to his feet immediately, supporting his weight for him so he could walk with less pain. As the two of them moved to the mouth of the cave to greet their teammates, Sasuke heard Naruto whisper:  
  
"That...wasn't a dream, was it?"  
  
Sasuke smiled. "No...it wasn't." He answered his dobe as they stepped out into the morning sunlight. Sakura spotted them and rushed up, followed by Kakashi, who eyed the two with a knowing look on his face.  
  
To Sasuke it really didn't matter what they would think. He loved Naruto and was ready to shout it from the rooftops if need be...he'd found his special person...the one that was supposed to chase away the demons of his past and make him a new person...a better person, someone capable of caring for another with everything they had.  
  
'You know what...?' He thought to himself, as he looked around, appreciating the beauty of the forest around them, and even Sakura's excited talking in a way he never had before. 'They were right...'  
  
THE END  
  
A/N: K....that was like beyond sappy''' Oh well, hope you enjoyed it! Please read and review, I wanna know what all you people think 


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